I picked up this book only because the brief synopsis that I read for a few minutes caught my attention, in addition to the cover page (sometimes an interesting cover is the only reason why I buy certain books!). Reading Brida was a totally different experience. It was almost like reading a fantasy novel. The book is all about witchcraft, magic, tarot, rebirth, incarnations, spiritualism , philosophy, etc. So if you are not interested in *any* of these, then this novel is definitely not for you. I love exploring these subjects, so I found the book to be quite interesting!

Synposis:Brida is the story of a young Irish girl who embarks on a spiritual journey and her quest for knowledge. Here search leads her to a magician who dwells in a forest, who teaches her to overcome her fears and a woman who teaches her how to dance to the music of the world, along with the Tradition of the Moon. As Brida continues through her journey, she slowly learns to tap into her hidden gifts...struggling to balance her relationships and her desire to become a witch, find her soulmate and transform herself.

I have never been a big fan of Paulo Coelho. The only book I've read so far is The Alchemist and that too, many years back! So I hardly remember anything from it. In terms of writing, Brida didn't captivate me much but I was truly amazed by the author's philosophical brilliance and spiritual ideas! I liked the way he has portrayed Brida's search of her soulmate with a lot of metaphors and references. Though there is quite a bit of vivid descriptions and nudity involved, it doesn't seem out of place or sleazy. The story is fast paced yet the characters are etched perfectly well to fit into the flow; you never feel that you are missing out on any details...

Typical to Paulo Coelho's works, even this book has a lot of interesting quotes scattered all over -

“Nothing in the world is ever completely wrong, even a stopped clock is right twice a day.”

“I learned that the search for God is a Dark Night, that Faith is a Dark Night. And that’s hardly a surprise really, because for us each day is a dark night. None of us knows what might happen even the next minute, and yet still we go forwards. Because we trust. Because we have Faith. That every moment in life is an act of faith.”

“The path of the life is and always will be path of Mystery. Learning something means coming into contact with a world of which you know nothing. In order to learn, you must be humble.”